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TI: Okay, so I'm going to switch gears now. Go to now the end of the war, so August 1945. So I guess the first question is when the war ended, what was your reaction, when the war ended?

TM: I was glad in a way that I would be able to see my father and over the years, he being interned. I had no idea how physically he would be. And I thought to myself, "I'm glad that it's over now, the whole family can get together." Then as to the injustice done to our family, I reserved, had reservation for that. Realizing that it was war and the military had to take action and whether it was necessary for my father to be interned, I thought they didn't want to miss anything. They wanted to make sure that everything went right and if there was any sign of misdirection, they weren't sure, and so I said that was war.

TI: Is that how you feel today? That, you know, in times of war, the military, to protect the country, the military has to be very careful about these things, or very rigorous about these things?

TM: Yes, I realized that injustice was done, the fact that the President of the United States made a public apology and I put myself in being addressed by the President, the whole family. And that I have accepted the apology and there was one reservation I had was the health of my father. My father was a very energetic, healthy person. I don't recall a single day when he was sick. And when he returned, I sensed that he was not that healthy. He was worried, he was reserved and that he did not have the energy that I had seen in him before. And over the years his health declined. He had to get into a hospital, lost conscious and then passed away. That was the thing that I had no answer for. Was it this internment that did it? Because he died in 1951 at the age of sixty-two, which I thought was rather young for a energetic person.

TI: And so going back to that, sort of that decline in health after the camp, do you think it was physical or do you think there was perhaps even an emotional kind of impact of the experience that really broke his spirit, or you know, just really hurt him that way?

TM: Well, not realizing how the internment camp was run, I realized that, in a way it was physical because he didn't have any physical activity, was resigned to stay put at a place. And mentally it did affect him too because of the worry that he had about his family and not being able to do anything. And those two things, mentally and physically, I think greatly affected him.

TI: Yeah, when he... the first time you saw him after the war, so the end of August, physically how did he look? Did he look different than when, than before the war?

TM: It seemed like he didn't seem to be like himself before, as I knew him. He brought home a collection of rocks that he had collected, gave that to me, and then had things that he did like making plastic toothpaste handle ornaments and things of that sort. In other words, just the indoor type of items that he had brought back. And of course he brought back lot of books that he had written, strictly Japanese and I don't know what he had written but he came back with stacks of books that he had (written) at the internment camp.

TI: How about the relationship with your mother, you know, your father and mother? Did you see that change, versus before the war and after the war?

TM: Yes, I found that now my mother had to sort of guide my father, you know, had to be the person that gave orders. In others words, my father was more resigned. Previously my father was the one that handled everything and my mother was in the background, but now my mother was in the foreground, worried about my father's health, even taking care of the children or even telling us what to do. My father was strictly more resigned.

TI: And how did that make you feel when you saw that? I mean, it was probably a pretty dramatic difference. Before the war, your father really being the leader, the head of the household and then with him coming back now, your mother needing to sort of take that role?

TM: I thought this was a consequence of him being interned and for that reason I thought we had to help out, too. My mother was doing the right thing, trying to help my father watching over his health, and we pitching in to make sure that my father was alright because I felt sorry for my father.

TI: On the other hand, your mother really had to emerge in many ways, you know, during the war, she had to become strong in some ways to, you know, for the family. How about any of your other siblings, did you see any other changes in your siblings, like before versus after the war that was dramatic?

TM: One thing I realized that during the war, when things were not going right, it was a matter of making a living, was fear and not knowing what's ahead. We all worked together and that became so important to me. I realized that under the situation, we were able to work together and contribute to whatever we can and that carried on in later years. All us children were close together, we pitched in and we sort of grew up during the war. My mother was very contented later on. She told me several times that, "I'm a very fortunate woman. All my children got to be grown up individuals and when they, each child went his individual ways and then became a family man or family member, and had raised a family and not a single (child) caused any trouble." And she said she's very grateful for that and I told her that, "It's because of you, your leadership and your strong will that kept us going. You directed us in the right direction."

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.